US becomes first country in world to 'officially' hit 100m Covid cases trends now US becomes first country in world to officially hit 100m Covid cases throughout pandemic — amid reports China suffered 250m last month alone Latest data show cumulative US cases hit nine figures on December 21 India has the second-highest infection count - but far lower at 44million Raw case number does not account for population - which would make US 58th By Connor Boyd Health Editor For Dailymail.Com Published: 20:20 GMT, 3 January 2023 | Updated: 20:21 GMT, 3 January 2023 Viewcomments America has become the first country to officially reach the milestone of 100million Covid infections - in what is likely a vast underestimate. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that cumulative US cases hit nine figures on December 21. India has the second-highest infection count at just 44million, according to the research database OurWorldInData, followed by France at 39million. But the raw number of cases does not account for population size. When that is factored in, the US ranks just 58th worldwide. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that cumulative US cases hit nine figures on December 21. India has the second-highest infection count at just 44million, according to the research database OurWorldInData , followed by France at 39million Cumulative US Covid cases hit 100million on December 21 - making America the first country to surpass nine figures The raw number does not factor in population size and is riddled with caveats - such as the US doing far more testing than most countries in the world. Here, the graph shows how the US has tamed its outbreak Comparing Covid cases between countries is difficult because of the different testing and data collection approaches. Only China has carried out more tests than the US — around 9 billion and 900 million, respectively. But Beijing and places like Russia have been accused of suppressing case numbers to mask the fact that authoritarian regimes have struggled to contain outbreaks. Dr John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital, said the US hitting 100million cases was a significant moment. But he added it was likely a severe undercount because of the huge swathes of Americans who do not test or who are asymptomatic. Dr Brownstein told ABC: 'Obviously it's a milestone that signifies the sheer amount of transmission that has occurred around this virus and the population burden that we have faced. 'At the same time, we recognize that reported cases are absolutely a massive undercount -- at the beginning of the pandemic where testing was nonexistent to the shift to home testing where a significant proportion of cases has gone unreported. 'I think we know that a large majority of the population has already been infected with COVID,' Brownstein said. 'And so, this number only represents a fraction of all the cases. [The milestone] was very likely hit many months ago.' The US' official case number, 100.7m, indicates that around one in three Americans have had the virus at least once. Yet a CDC study from April 2022 estimated that 60 percent of the country had been infected with the virus. The official case count does not distinguish between repeated infections. The 100m case mark comes as pandemic policies begin to creep back into daily life in America. Hundreds of thousands of students across the US will be forced to wear them in class when schools go back today, as controversial mandates make a return. Despite Covid infection rates plateauing for months, elementary and high schools in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have made face coverings a condition of entry for students returning from the holidays. Education officials claim the policy is to prevent a boom in respiratory illnesses after increased mixing during the first normal Christmas and New Year in years. But there is little evidence that face masks actually reduce infection rates, and mounting research shows the mandates stunted children's social development and education, and robbed them of vital immunity to other seasonal bugs like flu and RSV. The government also announced last week that all passengers from China would be tested upon entry, despite no proof that policy works either. COVID CASES AROUND THE WORLD (RAW NUMBER VS PER MILLION POPULATION) United States 100,759,251 India 44,680,180 France 39,373,160 Germany 37,410,650 Brazil 36,362,366 Japan 29,397,865 South Korea 29,220,591 Italy 25,143,705 United Kingdom 24,135,084 Russia 21,499,362 Turkey 17,042,722 Spain 13,684,258 Vietnam 11,525,336 Australia 11,132,933 Argentina 9,963,697 Taiwan 8,889,346 Netherlands 8,580,083 Iran 7,561,309 Mexico 7,234,467 Indonesia 6,720,443 Poland 6,368,749 Colombia 6,336,660 Austria 5,709,405 Ukraine 5,662,807 Portugal 5,554,058 Greece 5,548,487 Chile 5,044,258 Malaysia 5,027,457 Israel 4,765,806 Thailand 4,723,919 Belgium 4,668,248 Czechia 4,580,077 Canada 4,506,199 Peru 4,460,100 Switzerland 4,399,516 Philippines 4,065,173 South Africa 4,049,366 Denmark 3,385,836 Romania 3,312,085 Sweden 2,674,862 Hong Kong 2,669,224 Slovakia 2,657,398 Iraq 2,465,390 Serbia 2,447,387 Singapore 2,203,146 Hungary 2,185,816 New Zealand 2,094,899 Bangladesh 2,037,156 China 1,909,905 Georgia 1,808,820 Cyprus 704,359 San Marino 687,919 Faeroe Islands 652,484 Austria 638,663 Gibraltar 620,467 Slovenia 617,010 Andorra 598,061 Brunei 594,249 France 580,614 Denmark 575,601 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 569,074 South Korea 563,932 Iceland 557,716 Portugal 540,759 Liechtenstein 540,617 Greece 534,280 Latvia 526,325 Falkland Islands 507,761 Israel 504,371 Switzerland 503,350 Netherlands 488,503 Georgia 483,075 Luxembourg 481,386 Bahrain 474,685 Slovakia 470,881 Seychelles 470,014 Lithuania 468,529 Estonia 461,434 Cayman Islands 457,961 Montenegro 454,159 Isle of Man 449,618 Germany 448,731 Monaco 437,039 Czechia 436,448 Bonaire Sint Eustatius and Saba 433,092 Italy 425,894 Australia 425,288 Aruba 410,975 New Zealand 404,008 Saint Helena 401,037 Belgium 400,504 Singapore 390,835 Cook Islands 375,117 Barbados 374,637 Marshall Islands 373,957 Taiwan 372,042 Nauru 364,116 United Kingdom 357,509 Hong Kong 356,426 Serbia 356,162 Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility